Game 7: A Promise Made & A Promise Kept! Cavaliers 93, Warriors 89!

A picture is worth a thousand words!  Believeland, Ohio, formerly known as Cleveland, Ohio, is now the home of the 2016 NBA Championship team:  The Cleveland Cavaliers!  Just as the Cavalier fan base believed it was their turn, it came to pass; their team became the NBA World Champions and the Larry O’Brian Trophy was brought to Believeland!   Some said it was a “Miracle” and fans roared back, “You can’t spell “Miracle” without “cle”!”  It turns out the Cavalier fans were not the only ones who “Believed”, some odds makers believed also; Bovada.Iv, an odds maker, gave the Warriors a 15/4 odds of winning it all and the Cavs, a 11/5 odds; all because The Cavaliers had the LeBron factor.

• LeBron had been in 6 straight finals  ~ LeBron had already won 2 titles
• LeBron had already been dubbed a 2 time NBA Finals MVP
• LeBron, 4 times, had been crowned the League’s MVP, and many more accolades, too numerous to mention.
• LeBron had made a promise!

Steph Curry, the team leader of the Warriors had led his Warriors to the 2015 Championship   and to a historical 2016 season where they won 73 games and lost only 9!  Curry had been deemed MVP of that Championship game and 2 time League MVP. (2015, 2016)  He was the first player to be unanimously “dubbed” League MVP for the 2016 season.

Game 7, unlike the other six games, was much more “nip’n tuck”; no blowouts this time! This game will be defined by the “The Monster Block”, “The Clutch 3 point shot” and the “Cherry on top, “free throw”, in addition to the triple double made by James! First note, the Cavs came to play and squeaked out a 1^st quarter win with a score of 23 to 22.

During the second quarter, like Superman, LeBron James ran “faster than a speeding bullet”, caught up with Steph Curry who was in transition, and blocked his shot preventing him from completing the layup; they immediately began posturing and exchanging “words”.  The Warriors, however, won the 2^nd quarter; the halftime score was 49 Warriors, Cavs 42.

In spite of the back-to-back 3s JR put up in the third quarter, The Warriors “eked” out a third quarter win over the Cavs as well, 76, to 75, a one point difference! (JR contributed a total of 12 points to the winning game effort.)

Draymond Green had been playing like a man who was trying to make up for getting himself tossed out of game 5; he scored 22 pts. in the first half alone!   He led all scorers with 32 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and had 9 assists; 1 assist from a triple double!  The “Splash Brothers”, barely disturbed the proverbial water; they, Curry and Klay, had a combined point total of 31, one less than Draymond’s total alone!

The game got much more interesting, stressful, and/or exciting during the 4^th quarter.  LeBron, who had struggled somewhat with his jump shot, with a little less than 5min. left in the game, hit a “3” off the wing which brought the score to Cavs, 89 and Warriors 87; he had missed his 5 previous 3 point shot attempts! Soon afterwards, Klay Thompson of the Warriors hit a “2” and tied the score!  The score remained tied for what seemed an eternity!

For almost 2.5 minutes, shots were being taken by players on both teams but both baskets seem to have lids on them! Then, after a Kyrie’s miss, Iguodala gets the ball and sprints down court, sidestepping JR, he then went up to make the basket; however, however, LeBron James, came from the other side of the court as he became Goliath the giant and Superman combined, took what appeared to be two giant steps then flew above the rim to make the major rejection, the block that was seen around the world, “The MONSTER BLOCK”; he ended Iguodala’s point attempt by pinning the ball against the glass and kept the score tied!

Now, with approximately 58 seconds left in the game, Irving and Curry go one on one; The Golden State Warriors who basically lived by the “3” are now going to die by the “3”!    With the score still tied, Kyrie puts up “The Clutch 3 point shot” and hits it while being checked by whom some call, The 3 point King, Steph Curry!  The score was now 92 Cavs and 89 Warriors!  The next possession by the Cavs gave LeBron a chance to add a cushion to their lead; however, as he attempted the dunk, he received a hard foul from Green and hit the floor apparently landing on his right wrist.  The Cavs were stunned and hoping that what appeared to be very serious was not!  After showing great distress concerning his right wrist, LeBron literally rose to the occasion and placed himself on the “charity stripe”. He shot the first free throw and missed; however, he made the second, the “Cherry on top, “free throw”!  The score is now 93 Cavs and 89 Warriors with only 1.6 seconds left on the clock!

Now, The Warriors Steph Curry got possession of the ball and was being checked by Shumpert; Curry made the 3pt shot attempt but that’s all it turned out to be an attempt.  Speights got the rebound and hoisted it up, missed, and the game was over!  The Cleveland Cavaliers had become the 2016 NBA Champions!  They had done what no other NBA team had done in history, rally from a 3-1 deficit!  They would be taking the Larry O’Brian Trophy to Believeland, Ohio.  A Promise Kept!    

• Kevin Love contributed 9 points and annoyed Curry enough in the 4^th quarter that he missed a 3 point attempt at the 31.7 seconds mark on the clock!
• Tristan Thompson also contributed 9 points to the winning effort!
  

Extra! Extra! Some Historical Statistics from this Historical 2016 NBA Final

• Both teams, Warriors & CAVS, began game 7 with each having accumulated 610 points via games 1-6.
• The Cleveland Cavaliers were the first team to come from a 3-1 deficit in the finals in the history of the NBA; conversely, The Golden State Warriors were the first team to lose in the finals after being up 3-1. (32 teams had tried and failed to win the Championship after being down 3-1.)
• Steph Curry was the first player to be unanimously chosen as the 2016 league MVP. (This made him back-to-back league MVP, 2015 & 2016)
• The Cleveland Cavaliers Team is the first team to have two teammates earn at least 40 points each in the same gave in the NBA Finals. (Teammates James and Irving)
• LeBron James is the second player to earn a triple double in game 7 of the NBA Finals. (27 pts, 11 Reb, and 11 Asts.) The first player to do so was James Worthy of the Lakers in 1988.
• Lebron James has been in 6 consecutive NBA finals.
• Lebron James is the second player to earn MVP for multiple teams
• LeBron was unanimously chosen the Finals MVP leading the finals in all 5 major categories: Points/game 29.7, Rebounds 11.3, Assists 8.9, Steals 2.6, and Blocks 2.3.

Oh, one more thing before I close, LeBron James says he will resign with the The Cleveland Cavaliers; so fans, no need to wonder if he will be back because he will.

*Discussion Question:  What is the subliminal message (Ultimate Warrior) emanating from LeBron’s shirt or is there one?

Tags: Basketball